Shower head mixing arrangement



Filed June 19, 1967 INVENTOR (harm M173? BY m H. 5m

ATTORNEY v v United States Patent 3,446,438 SHOWER HEAD MIXING ARRANGEMENT Chelsea Watson, Jamaica, N.Y., assignor of one-half to Nathan T. Glaser, Forest Hills, N.Y. Filed June 19, 1967, Ser. No. 647,016 Int. Cl. Bb 7/28 US. Cl. 239-312 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention concerns a novel shower head mixing arrangement and has for its object to provide a simple, practical and inexpensive device for dispensing an additive, such as bath oil, to a water spray discharge in order to achieve a maximum effect with a minimum use of the oil or additive.

Known types of shower heads for dispensing additives such as bath oil or other additives suffer from several disadvantages, an important one of which is that the bath oil or other additive mixes with the water in the interior of the shower head. As a result of this mixture, the oil is broken down into minute droplets and there is a spreading of the mixture even before the spray reaches the shower head opening. Since bath oil is costly, the oil in comminuted form in the water mixture is not as eifective as it might be and a large amount of it is wasted as it impinges in minute droplets over a wide area on the person. This disadvantage, among others, is overcome by the shower head construction of the present invention, which enables a measured quantity of the bath oil to substantially concentrate on a particular spot or location on the person taking a shower from which the oil is then spread by the water spray, thereby resulting in a saving of bath oil and an efiectively-soothing, skin-smoothing bath oil shower in an extremely short period of time-for example, in less than a minute.

A detailed description of the invention follows, in conjunction with a drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the shower head device of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows the off position of one type of valve in the container or reservoir illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2.;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of some of the internal parts of the shower head fixture; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the internal tubular parts which are located at or near the open end of the shower head fixtures so as to illustrate the manner in which the water under pressure from the main water supply pipe draws the bath oil from the tube leading to the reservoir.

Throughout the figures of the drawing, the same parts are represented by the same reference numerals.

The shower head mixing arrangement of the invention comprises a main water supply pipe or conduit to which a shower head fixture 12 is coupled by a suitable fitting such as a universal joint comprising a ball and socket arrangement 14, in conventional manner. Water 3,446,438 Patented May 27, 1969 is supplied to pipe 10 from hot and cold water supply conduits (not shown) having separate valve operating handles and a hot and cold water mixing construction in conventional manner. The shower head 12 has a threaded end or fitting '16 which is screwed into the conical socket 18 holding the ball of the universal joint in such manner as to permit swiveling of the shower head up and down and also sideways. The other end of the universal joint terminates in a nut 20 whose interior threads are screwed over the end threads of the water supply pipe 10. The construction described so far is conventional and known in the plumbing field.

Attached to the shower head is a mixing attachment comprising a container or reservoir 22 for supplying bath oil or any other desired additive to the shower head. This reservoir is in liquid flow communication with the interior of the shower head by means of a thin hollow tube 24, in turn, communicating in any suitable manner with the end of another tube 26. Tube 26 is supported from the side wall of the shower head fixture and enters the hollow interior chamber of the shower head fixture and fixedly supports tube 26 at one end as shown. Tube 26 is positioned at a right angle to the tube 26' with which it is in flow communication. Tube 26 extends beyond, that is, projects forwardly of, the open end 28 of the shower head from which the water spray is discharged. The tube 26' is provided with an aperture or hole 30 near the end 28 of the open end of the shower head, and this hole passes completely through the tube 26. Obviously, if desired, tubes 26 and 26' may comprise a single tube. An outer tube 32 surrounds and is spaced from tube 26' so as to permit water flowing under pressure from main water supply pipe 10 to pass through the space between the tubes 26 and 32 and exit out the open end of the shower head fixture at location 28. Both the inner tube 26' and the surrounding outer tube 32 are parallel to but slightly spaced from each other and extend longitudinally of the shower head fixture.

The reservoir 22 may be made of any suitable material but is shown as having a transparent cylindrical wall made of plastic or glass to enable relatively clear observation of the interior thereof. The reservoir may be provided with a swivel type ball joint which rests on a centrally apertured washer 25, positioned adjacent the top of tube 26. If it is not desired to employ a swivel type ball joint, then tubes 24 and 26 may threadedly engage each other of the free end of tube 24 may fit snugly over the adjoining end of tube 26. A partition 34 divides the reservoir into two chambers 33 and 35 which are in fluid flow communication by means of a plug-type valve 36 which rotates in a bore 37 in the body of partition 34. There is a passage 38 extending through valve 36 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The bore 37 in the partition 34 which surrounds the valve 36 is provided with a passage 40. When the passages '38 and 40 register with each other in the position shown in FIGURE 2, then the liquid additive in the upper and larger chamber 33 of the reservoir may flow into the lower and smaller chamber 35 of the reservoir. When the passages 38 and 40 do not register with each other, as in the position shown in FIG- URE 3, the upper chamber 33 of the reservoir 22 is sealed ofi from the lower chamber 35. Any suitable handle such as lever 42 controls the position of the valve 36. Suitable limit stops (not shown) may assure the proper open and shut (on and 01f) positions of the valve 36 by a mere flip of the handle 42 in either of two positions. The dimensions of the upper and lower chambers 33 and 35 may be such that there is a measured amount of bath oil or additive permitted to flow into the lower chamber 35 from the upper chamber 33 merely by flipping the handle 42 into the on position for a slight interval of time before the handle is returned to the off position. Air hole 21 in the cover and air tube 23 extending from the outside into the lower chamber 35 assures the free flow of the liquid additive from the upper and lower chambers, respectively, when required. The invention is independent of the type of reservoir 22. or valve 36 employed, since other suitable constructions can be used.

The shower head fixture includes a drum-like cylindrical metallic hollow element 44 which is provided with uniformly spaced grooves 46 around its periphery and small holes 48 in its metallic flat outer end surface. Note FIG- URES 1, 2, 4 and 5. The flat metallic end surface is positioned transversely of the longitudinal axis of the fixture and is provided at its center with a hole sufliciently large to permit the snug passage therethrough and support of tube 32. Except for the centrally positioned hole 49 in the fiat end, the element 44 is conventional in a known type of shower head fixture.

The open end of drum-like element 44 which faces the interior of the shower head has a generally cylindrical elongated segment 50 brazed, soldered, force fit or welded thereto at one end thereof. A plurality of holes 52, three, at the end of segment 50 nearest the grooved drum-like element 44 permits water entering the shower head from the main water supply to pass from the interior of segment 50 out through the holes 52 and through grooves 46 on the periphery of element 44. A slot 54 along the top of segment 50 enables adjustment or limited movement of the segment together with the element 44 attached thereto longitudinally of the shower head fixture in response to control from the lever-type handle 60 without interfering with the tubes 32 and 26'. This limited longitudinal movement of segment 50 together with is fixedly attached drum-like element 44 permits adjustment of the amount of water spray discharged from the shower head fixture. Near the free end of tubular segment 50 there is provided a transverse slot 56 which accommodates a pin or slug 58 eccentrically positioned at the end of spray adjusting lever 60. Between pin or slug 58 and the end of spray adjusting lever 60 there is a washer 62. Movement of lever 60 in either direction of arrows 61 causes pin 58 within transverse slot 56 to correspondingly move segment 50 and element 44 in a longitudinal direction along the length of the shower head fixture for adjusting the amount of water spray discharge from the shower head. Except for slot 54 in segment 50, this segment and its controlling lever 60 are conventional and known in the shower head fixture field.

An important feature of the present invention is the positioning of the free ends of tubes 32 and 26' beyond the flat open end surface of drum-like element 44, thereby enabling the bath oil or other additive flowing out of the tube 26' to become concentrated at substantially one spot on the object or person taking the shower before the bath oil is dispersed by the shower spray.

In the operation of the invention, assuming, for example, the use of bath oil in the reservoir 22, the person desiring a shower, after first cleansing himself with soap and water-'in-thenormal manner, will flip lever 42 to permit a measured amount of oil to flow into the lower chamber 35 before returning lever 42 to the off position. The transparent character of the reservoir 22 enables the user to observe when the lower chamber contains the desired amount of bath oil. The water passing under pressure from the main water supply conduit 10 through the space between the inner tube 26' and its surrounding outer tube 32 will create a slight vacuum or suction effect which causes a steady smooth flow of the bath oil out of the tube 26 and the lower chamber of the reservoir and through recess openings or apertures 30. The bath oil and the slight amountv of water flowing through the space between tubes 26 and 32 mix and produce a fairly concentrated bath oil mixture which impinges on the person and is then dispersed over the body by the much larger water discharge from the holes 48 and grooves 46 impinging on the person. The bath oil spaced from each other and arranged parallel shower may occupy less than a. minute and still provide the desired maximum soothing effect for a dry skin while consuming a minimum amount of the costly bath oil.

What is claimed is:

1. A shower head mixing arrangement comprising a shower head fixture adapted at one end to be connected to a source of water under pressure, said fixture including a chamber having a hollow interior in which there are positioned a pair of inner and outer tubes physically to the longitudinal axis of said fixture, the inner one of said tubes communicating with a source of liquid additive to be mixed with said water, the space between said tubes providing a passage for the flow of said water under pressure, a centrally apertured flat metallic surface positioned transversely to the longitudinal axis of said fixture at the other end of Said fixture for supporting the outer tube of said pair, said pair of tubes projecting forwardly of said flat metallic surface, and an opening in said inner tube near the end thereof adjacent to said flat metallic surface for enabling water passing therethrough to mix with the liquidv additive flowing in said inner tube and to inhibit said water from backing up into said inner tube.

References Cited EVERETT W. KIRBY, Primary Examiner.

U.S. c1; X.R. 239-317, 318 

